Chapter 16 - Revelations
Sunset Glow had tried to put on a brave face for her family, but it had taken only a few minutes with her son and granddaughter for her to break down into tears. Night held a comforting foreleg around his mother, his eyes bleary from having been up for most of the night.
"Sh-she lied to me," Glow moaned. "Right there in the th-throne room, she lied to me, Nighty!"
"I know," Night Light said, his voice quavering.
"I-I don't care what Sunset did. I don't care what mistakes she made. Nothing deserved being made to just disappear like she never existed! I didn't even have a chance to m-mourn for her before I was made to forget her."
Night squeezed his eyes shut. "And now it feels like it all just happened yesterday."
Twilight let out a slow, anguished sigh. She wished she knew the right words to say. She could only look on with an aching heart.
Glow closed her eyes, but tears continued to drip. "It does feel like that. I still can't believe our little Sunny is dead."
Twilight swallowed hard when her throat started to close up. She turned away, only to have her mother's hoof gently touch her shoulder. "I'm all right," Twilight said in a choked voice.
Velvet drew her daughter into a hug. "You don't look all right, Twily."
Twilight drew in a deep breath and let it out as a rattling sigh. "I feel like I caused my whole family such pain just because I wanted to know the truth."
"No, Twilight," said Shimmering as he stepped up to them. "You were just revealing a pain that was already there. Frankly, I ..." He glanced over to his wife, his eyes glistening. "I think this is for the best."
Twilight smiled faintly as she broke off the embrace. "I really hope it will be."
"Make no mistake, right now I'm very angry with Princess Celestia," said Shimmering. "She had no right to do this."
"I'm really hoping there's a good explanation," Twilight said. "Not an excuse, but an explanation. Celestia already realizes she's done the wrong thing."
"Honestly, Twily," said Velvet. "You know I tend not to express any displeasure towards anypony, especially the diarchs, but you would think Princess Celestia would learn by now what happens when she withholds information from you!"
Twilight sighed. "Please, Mom, let's not go there again. Not after all this time."
"I think I have every right to go there," Velvet declared. "I don't care how capable you were at the time, the Princess sent you to deal with her sister who she knew was very dangerous at the time, and giving you very little preparation or information. And that's not the last time she did that. Back when you--"
"Mom, please, stop!" Twilight cried. "I don't want to deal with this right now. I've got enough on my mind as it is."
Velvet sighed and lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry, Twily, I'm just at my wits' end right now."
"You're in good company," said Twilight in a low voice. "You're not the only one dealing with memories they never knew they had."
A gentle knock sounded at the door.
"I'll get that," Twilight said.
Opening the door revealed Starlight Glimmer. "You ready to head over to the palace, Twilight?"
"In a minute," said Twilight. "Please, come in."
Starlight trotted past her but quickly came to a halt. "Um, did I come at a bad time?"
"There really isn't any good time right now," said Twilight.
"Starlight," said Velvet. "Twily told me how much you've been a big help to her in all this. Please accept my thanks."
Starlight blushed. "Oh, um, you're welcome."
Twilight turned towards the others. "I have to go now. I promise, I'll let you know everything I find out. Shining Armor is on his way. He'll be here this afternoon."
Velvet and Night both smiled faintly. "He's welcome to stay in his old room," said Velvet.
"It will be good to see little Shiny again," said Glow. "I hope he's dealing with this better than I am."
"I'm sure he can help everypony deal with this better," said Twilight. She turned to Starlight. "Let's go."
The silence was leaden as Celestia poured tea for her guests. Arranged before her were Luna, Starlight, Spike, Twilight, and Twilight's friends. Celestia looked a bit bleary herself. She glanced at the others and tried not to think that their eyes were those of judgment, that they were merely curious and anxious for her to begin.
Celestia set down the tea kettle. "Twilight, perhaps it would be best if you tell me what memories you now have of Sunset Shimmer."
"I know she was my aunt," said Twilight in a soft voice. "And that she was your student, and she was very powerful. She used to foal-sit me, but my parents insisted she stop when they feared she would be a bad influence on me. It led to an argument between my parents and my grandparents."
"Bad influence?" Rainbow said.
Twilight cast her gaze downward. "She tried to teach me ideas that ... well ... let's just say they weren't very conducive to Harmony when you really took a close look at them. It started with her being a very staunch loyalist of Celestia."
"An' that's bad how?" said Applejack.
"Because she took it to an extreme," said Celestia. "I blame myself for not seeing it, for mistaking it as simple loyalty to me."
Twilight raised her gaze to the others. "She thought Celestia's reach should extend over the whole world. She thought all sapient species should be ruled by her."
Fluttershy flicked her gaze over to Celestia. "Um, but Princess Celestia has always been a benevolent ruler. How would that be bad? I mean, assuming they did it willingly."
Rarity's eyes widened. "Unless she didn't care about their willingness! Did Sunset advocate war to achieve this aim?"
"Of Sunset's failings, advocating bloodshed was not among them," said Celestia. "If anything, she abhorred violence in any form. Perhaps her desire to see my rule extended over other lands would not be so upsetting if it were not part of a greater and more disturbing belief. Do you remember now, Twilight?"
"I remember," Twilight said quietly. "Though at the time I thought it innocent enough. It's only when I take a step back that I can see the implications."
"So what did she tell ya that was so bad?" Applejack asked.
Twilight's eyes glistening slightly. "She kept telling me how grateful we should be to be ponies, and how lucky we were to have somepony like Celestia to rule us."
After an exchange of confused glances, Rarity spoke up. "I'm sorry, but I'm not really seeing the problem. I'm sure there are many ponies who believe as such."
"I've always been grateful for Princess Celestia's rule," said Fluttershy.
"That was not all she told you, was it, Twilight?" Celestia asked in a somber voice.
Twilight shook her head slowly. "She went on to suggest that it would be better if she had more ponies under her rule. She implied that an entire world of ponies, all loyal to Celestia, would be an ideal situation."
"But what in tarnation does that actually mean?" said Applejack.
"It appeared she thought ponies better than other species," said Celestia.
Applejack exchanged a confused look with the others. "Ya mean how we can do some kinds of magic that they can't? That sorta thing?"
"I suspect it runs deeper than that," said Luna. "My sister and I remember a time when the pony tribes were still at odds with one another. Each thought themselves superior -- physically, mentally, and morally -- to the other tribes."
"But that kind of thinking was tossed out a long time ago!" Pinkie said.
"As it should be," said Celestia. "Which is why I am still mystified as to how Sunset obtained this belief. She did not get it from me, nor her instructors, and certainly not from her family."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Are ya sure somepony didn't make an honest mistake? Did she ever come out and say ponies were better?"
"No, she never did," said Twilight. "But that was what I started to form in my own head the more I listened to her."
"Come on, Twi, you'd never believe something like that!" Rainbow declared.
"You don't understand, Rainbow," said Twilight in a soft voice. "I was very young and impressionable at the time. I remember how absolutely enthralling it was to listen to her. I idolized her. I would believe almost anything she told me by that point."
Rarity gasped. "And now that you remember those beliefs, does that mean you're in danger of--"
"No," said Twilight firmly. Spike smiled at her, and she wrapped a wing around him, drawing him close. "The idea of friendship -- across all species -- is too firmly ingrained in me for a set of childhood memories to change that. But it's scary to think how I might have turned out if things had gone differently. Would I have treated Spike badly because he was a dragon?"
"Aw, I can't see any version of you ever doing that," said Spike.
Twilight's eyes misted, and she hugged Spike tightly.
"Now you see one reason why I wiped memories as well as documentation on her, Twilight," said Celestia in a heavy voice. "When I sensed the incredible potential in you, I worried that these beliefs would taint you, and you'd make the same mistakes Sunset made."
Applejack frowned. "It still don't seem right ta mess with ponies' heads."
"If I had to do this over again, Applejack, I would find another way," said Celestia. "But I'm not here to excuse my actions, merely explain them. And there are other reasons I had done what I did."
"An' nopony had a clue she believed this stuff?"
"It is I who should have seen it first," said Celestia. "But I was blinded by my faith in her. She was truly a most capable unicorn. Like Twilight, she had discovered the so-called legend of Nightmare Moon and the existence of the Elements of Harmony."
Twilight's eyes widened. "She had??"
Celestia turned to Twilight. "Indeed. She even pressed me about the issue, even when I tried to defer. She was simply too forceful to be dissuaded." She paused. "No slight is intended, Twilight, but the fact of the matter is ... well ... Sunset was simply more assertive than you were."
Twilight smiled. "It's okay. I believe everything happened as it had to."
"Yes, it did, since I had lost my connection to the Elements by that time," said Celestia. "This was not something I would admit to Sunset, even though by then I had already foreseen that other bearers would be needed." She smiled faintly. "At the time, I was sure Sunset would be the future bearer of the Element of Magic, but that was not something I could reveal to her. I felt it was too early."
"What I don't understand is how the rest of my family never knew," said Twilight. "If she always had these beliefs, surely they would have come out sooner."
"It is puzzling, as the seeds were likely planted rather early," said Celestia. "As you stated, she believed my rule should extend into other lands, and she debated me on that point rather vigorously several times." She smiled. "Among all her other talents, she was an excellent debater, so much so that she managed to sway me just once."
"How did she do that?" Starlight asked.
"She prodded me into commencing with a final treaty with the minotaurs, as well as seeking an alliance with the Caribou Nation."
Twilight's eyes widened. "Those are two of the most famous treaties in recent history!"
Celestia smiled wanly. "Yes, and you have your aunt to thank for that. The minotaurs were already fairly ubiquitous in our society, having mass-emigrated here when the water sources in their homeland dried up. Having them swear fealty to the Crown took little effort. Sunset was immensely pleased, at least at first."
"At first?" said Starlight.
"I believe she expected more," said Celestia. "She wanted full integration of the caribous into Equestria, for one, but I knew they were too independent-minded for that. She eventually saw the integration of the minotaurs as 'not enough'."
"Not enough of what?" Starlight prompted.
"She wouldn't give me more explanation than that, other than what I had thought at the time to be an off-hoof comment. She had said 'this would be so much better if they were all ponies.'"
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "And that didn't convince you that her beliefs were kinda out there?"
"Not yet," said Celestia. "It was only later I put it all together. Instead, at the time, I thought she had referred to the clash of cultures. Minotaur ways were not pony ways. There was some lingering friction that took time to smooth out."
"So can we cut to the chase?" said Starlight. "What exactly did Sunset do that was so bad? It couldn't be just her beliefs. You didn't go wiping me out of existence because of my crazy ideas about giving up cutie marks."
Celestia smiled. "You, dear Starlight, had the good fortune to be shown another way by somepony whose dedication to friendship and harmony is unparalleled."
Twilight blushed but smiled.
Some of Celestia's smile faded. "And, apparently, she is more accomplished than I."
"You mean you never turned Sunset around?" asked Pinkie in a sad voice.
"I tried. I always kept my heart open to her, but she had closed hers to me." Celestia paused. "But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me come back to Starlight's question, as it deserves an answer."
"Though I can guess this is where the griffons come in," said Luna.
"Yes, indeed. After Sunset's apparent disappointment over the minotaurs, I had come to the conclusion that Sunset simply needed more exposure to other cultures so she would truly understand my perspective. At the time, the griffons were going through a downturn, and I felt this was an opportunity for both them and Sunset. I thus opened formal diplomatic relations. To my delight, Sunset jumped at the chance to be assigned as an envoy."
"She must be the one Gilda mentioned," said Rainbow. "But nopony remembered her name."
"That was due to the dark magic spell," said Twilight. "But the fact that anypony could remember there had been an envoy at all meant the spell was already starting to fray."
"Sunset's enthusiasm both surprised and pleased me, even after I explained to her that she was to seek alliance and not annexation," said Celestia. "Since it dovetailed perfectly into signs I had seen that this was the direction Sunset needed to go, I felt I had made the right decision."
"What kind of signs?" Twilight asked.
Celestia hesitated. "Let me come back to that later, please. It is best you understand what happened first."
"Lemme guess," said Applejack. "Sunset got under the griffons' skin somethin' fierce."
"That's not real hard to do," Rainbow murmured.
"Things did go more slowly than I would have liked," said Celestia. "Yet Sunset seemed to be immersing herself in their culture as I had hoped. I had believed she simply needed more time."
Starlight frowned. "Or she was trying to justify her beliefs by finding more reasons to think ponies were better than griffons."
Celestia sighed. "That is exactly what I suspect happened, but I had no idea at the time."
"This here still ain't addin' up fer me," said Applejack. "Sounds like a lotta assumptions were bein' made."
"Then let me get to the heart of the matter," said Celestia. "As my concern over the situation with the griffons grew, Sunset finally approached me and stated that she had a plan to smooth things over and make the griffons our staunchest allies. When I had asked her what she had planned, she asked me to simply trust her." She paused. "Which I did."
"You accepted her idea sight unseen?" Twilight asked.
"Realize that by this time, she was quite advanced in her studies and had done nothing to suggest she had anything untoward in mind. I had little trouble in putting my continued faith in her." Celestia lowered her gaze. "I wish I had inquired further."
"Is this where her research into transformation magic comes in?"
"Yes."
"Hang on," said Applejack. "What does that hafta do with anythin'?"
Twilight turned to her. "Aunt Sunset was attempting to craft a permanent transformation spell. Given her beliefs, I think she wanted to transform the griffons into ponies."
"That's exactly what she was planning," said Celestia.
"But what I don't understand is how she planned to deliver the magic," said Twilight. "How did she overcome the problem of morphic resonance?"
Celestia paced across the room. "What I am about to reveal, please be very judicious as to whom you inform, at least until this crisis is over."
Twilight hesitated, but then nodded. "Very well."
The others nodded in agreement as well.
Celestia took a deep breath. "Sunset planned to deliver her spell by utilizing a virus."
Starlight blinked. "A what?!"
"Of course!" Twilight said. "Why didn't I think of that? It's the perfect vector!"
"Oh, come on!" Starlight cried. "Trying to use something so small--!"
"--would just be another challenge to somepony as talented as Aunt Sunset," Twilight declared. "I can already think of several ways that--"
"Ah, not to sound ungrateful, darling," said Rarity. "But could you explain it to those of us not as versed in such matters?"
"Without seeing her research, I can only make an educated guess," said Twilight. "The problem facing permanent transformation is the morphic resonance. That's a biomagical signature that defines what you are. The amount of magic needed to overcome it would normally kill the creature. Now, a virus works by injecting its genetic code into a cell and forcing it to replicate the virus. That's how you get sick with, say, pony pox. Sunset found a way to latch her spell onto a virus. My speculation is that as the virus replicated, so would the magic, which could be applied to changing the morphic resonance itself, effectively transforming the creature from the inside out. Moreover, the virus would spread, and hence the spell, to other creatures. It's like casting a spell once and having it replicate as much as needed. It's brilliant!" She paused and blushed. "Er ... terrible, but still brilliant."
"How did she plan to deliver this virus?" said Starlight.
"She planned to build a magical device," Celestia explained. "It would seek out a naturally occurring virus and apply her spell to it."
"And that's where the portal come in," declared Twilight.
"A portal?" said Rainbow. "What portal?"
"A portal that connects two widely separated points in space," Twilight explained. "It has longer range than teleportation. That's the anomaly in the building along Old Canterlot Way. It's the remains of a portal that Aunt Sunset had planned to use to deliver her device into the midst of the Griffon Kingdom."
Celestia paced again. "You are correct in your assessment of the anomaly, but not in the order of events. She did not start working on the portal -- in secret -- until later."
"So she didn't plan to use the portal to deliver the device?" Starlight asked.
"Sunset was still the envoy to the griffons," said Celestia. "She had no reason for subterfuge. In fact, she had crafted the device to appear as artwork that she intended to give to the griffons as a token of friendship, thus smoothing over relations in the short term until the virus had a chance to take hold."
"The implications of this are staggering," said Luna. "If it sought a common virus in the environment, it could be used against other species."
Spike's eyes widened. "You mean she could change dragons into ponies, too??"
"Nothing says that she could not," said Celestia. "And this was likely her plan if I had not stopped her. When I discovered what she had intended to do, I was ... shocked. Utterly shocked. If I had not seen her research for myself, I would not have believed it. I was forced to confront her. I demanded to know what her motivations were."
"Is this where she finally owned up to her beliefs?" asked Applejack.
Celestia turned to face her. She took a shuddering breath. "What she said I will never forget. She said: I did this to give you a better world, a world with all the ponies you need, all the ponies you deserve, a world in which nothing can touch you, nothing can hurt you, nopony can stand against you."
Twilight's ears drooped slightly, and her eyes took on a troubled look.
"That is the ultimate tragedy. Everything she did, and everything she planned to do was to further my glory." Celestia turned to Twilight. "Do you remember when you had your first meal with me as my student, Twilight?"
Twilight's ears rose, and she slowly smiled. "How could I forget? I was so nervous, it was like I had four left hooves."
Celestia smiled. "You tried to bow."
"And fell right on my muzzle. I don't think I ever blushed so hard in my life."
The others chuckled.
"What did I tell you then?" asked Celestia.
"That I never had to bow to you in private." Twilight's smile widened. "And not because I was so bad at it."
"I never wanted our relationship to be excessively formal," said Celestia. "That is a mistake I made with Sunset. I let protocol rule the day. She bowed to me even in private and even after she had developed a rapport with me."
"That's what I treasure most of all about our time together as teacher and student," said Twilight. "You were so approachable, despite my nervousness."
"You did look up to me, though," said Celestia. "Sometimes, you put me on a pedestal."
"Sometimes, but I got past that."
"You even idolized me."
Twilight nodded. "Yes, I did."
"But what you never did, Twilight, was worship me," said Celestia. "Sunset worshiped me. I later found a room in her residence that she had made into what can only be described as a shrine to me." She turned to the others. "Worship is something I do not want from anypony. I do not deserve it, and it makes ponies do things they normally would not think of doing, all in my name."
"I wanted worship once," said Luna in a somber voice. "And we all saw how that turned out."
"For the better in the end, dear sister," said Celestia. "I wished the same could have been said for Sunset. I naturally forbid Sunset from continuing her research, and I withdrew her as envoy to the griffons."
"Bet that didn't go over well," muttered Starlight.
"It did not. She continued her studies with me, but she became cool towards me, and cold and calculating towards others. Despite what she had almost done, I wanted to give her another chance, but she withdrew completely. She felt like I had utterly betrayed her." Celestia paused. "And against my wishes, she completed her research."
Twilight gasped. "She did? Did it even work?!"
Celestia's eyes burned. "She tested it on a young female griffon she kidnapped and successfully turned her into a pegasus filly. I did not find out what she had done until word of it somehow got back to the griffons. They were enraged. They threatened war immediately."
"Um, not that I think a war would've been a good thing," said Rainbow cautiously. "But Gilda said there was no way they could've stood up against Equestria."
"That is not the point," said Luna. "Just the idea that they felt they had been wronged enough by Equestria to declare war would have drawn attention from other nations."
"And they would have spread word of what Sunset had done," said Celestia. "And those who until then lived without a single worry that Equestria had designs on them would wonder if we had been lying all along, waiting for a chance to strike in a way they could not combat. They would fear that Sunset's beliefs were shared by me, or by ponykind in general. It is not that we would fail to prevail in such wars -- though the devastation that could be wrought by dragonkind makes me shudder -- it is that war is not the Equestrian way. It never has and never will be."
"Sorry to keep beatin' the point to death," said Applejack. "But could ya have explained it ta them?"
"Perhaps I could have," said Celestia in a despondent voice. "But all I could think of was that Sunset had introduced something that this world had never seen before and hopefully will never see again: the concept of biological warfare. Even if I had managed to placate them, I felt it would only be a matter of time before an arms race began to counter this terrible Equestrian 'weapon.'"
"Is that why the final treaty with the griffons was sealed?" Twilight asked.
"Yes," said Celestia. "Publicly, we never announced the true reason for the sudden bad relations. The treaty contained a secret clause, one which stipulated that I find a way to excise all knowledge of the magic behind Sunset's spell. I soon discovered to my chagrin that there was no partial way to do it. If I left anything behind, somepony could recreate her research, and the griffons knew this. Equestria would always be under their suspicious eyes. Worse, this left us open to blackmail were an opportunistic leader to take the throne."
Starlight's eyes widened. "So you erased everything about her? Even the griffons' own memories?"
"As I said, it was everything or nothing," said Celestia. "I thus had to wipe even their memory of that secret clause. Instead, the treaty simply became a means to smooth over the actions of an irritating envoy."
Twilight let out a shaky sigh. "I am so glad now that I hadn't tried to unravel the spell myself. I had planned to be careful, but if I had accidentally unraveled the entirety of that spell--"
Celestia nodded. "The griffons would likely be readying for war as we speak."
"But everything Dashie and I helped them with!" Pinkie said. "Wouldn't they consider that?"
Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof through her mane. "Uh, hate to break this to you, Pinkie, but griffons are kinda notorious for holding grudges for a looong time."
Starlight held up a hoof. "Uh, hold on, there's something missing here. You couldn't have erased her existence before she was gone, could you? I mean, did she actually, well, die?"
Celestia paused a moment, her eyes tearing briefly. "Yes, she did die."
"I remember that," said Twilight in a hushed voice. "My grandparents came over one night, right after I had gone to bed. I was still awake. I was excited at first, thinking maybe my parents would get me up so I could say hi to them." She paused for a long moment. "Then I heard the crying. That was the first time I ever, ever heard my father cry. I was really scared. It could only be the end of the world. Just as I was about to leave my room, my mother came in and broke the news to me." Twilight swallowed. "I don't think I stopped bawling for something like an hour."
Spike gently placed a claw on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Twilight. I wish I had been there to help you."
Twilight swept him up into a tight hug and sniffled once.
Celestia swallowed. "If you must lay blame, Twilight, lay it squarely at my hooves. It was my failings and my foolishness that led us to this end."
"No, Celestia," said Twilight firmly. "I don't want to blame anypony. I just want to understand."
"You are not blameless, Tia," said Luna. "But neither are you the sole blame."
"Princess, ya can teach the young 'uns only so much," said Applejack. "It's up ta them if they listen to ya or not."
"Ponies choose to do stupid things all the time," said Starlight. "Believe me, if anypony knows that, it's me."
Celestia slowly smiled. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support, my little ponies. But to Twilight's point, let me conclude this tale. When the griffons threatened war, news eventually got back to Sunset's family of what she had been doing, though it was somewhat short on specifics. Sunset became a recluse, holing up in her residence on Old Canterlot Way."
"I don't remember that part," said Twilight. "I do remember the family becoming really tense. I knew something had happened, but they shielded me from the details, probably because they knew how much I looked up to Sunset."
"And that was when I discovered her other project," said Celestia.
"The portal," said Twilight.
"She kept it hidden from me. That was a prodigious task, and I admit to still feeling proud of her for that."
"Let me guess," said Starlight. "She was trying to bypass you and deliver her 'care package' to the griffons via a portal."
Celestia was quiet for a long moment, and her eyes became troubled. "Not quite."
"Wait, what?" said Twilight.
All eyes were on Celestia as she started to pace. "Your conclusion, Starlight Glimmer, is exactly the one I came to until I really studied the energies she was wielding. She was not seeking to open a portal to another part of Equestria, she was seeking to open a portal to another universe."
"Say what?!" Rainbow cried.
"Starswirl the Bearded did postulate about the existence of other universes," said Twilight. "But he was never able to prove it."
Celestia turned to her. "What else do you know of Starswirl's theories in this area?"
"Well, he theorized that there is a metaverse which is the ultimate source of all magic, and multiple universes are connected to this source. He further reasoned that when their connections to this magic source overlapped, it could bridge the gap between two universes."
Celestia smiled. "Very good."
"But he never went anywhere with it," said Twilight. "The odds of two universes becoming connected in that manner are so astronomically small there's almost no point in waiting for it to happen."
"Yet when it does happen, it is most fortuitous," said Celestia. "And it did happen. Twice."
Twilight's mouth dropped open. "Why have I not heard of this?!"
"I had known of the first incident," said Luna. "But not the second."
"That is because the second time it happened was about seven centuries ago, Luna, while you were still on the moon," said Celestia. "The first time was over a millennium before that. There are good records of both incidents, but I had them sealed. I will, of course, make them available to you, Twilight."
"Can you tell us what connection this has to Sunset and her research?" Starlight asked.
"Seven hundred years ago, during the second time that a connection appeared on its own between the worlds, several unicorn mages were able to prop open the temporary portal and thus keep it going longer," said Celestia. "Their research into the mechanics of the portal led Sunset to believe she could craft her own."
"Yes, of course," said Twilight. "The same knowledge that could be put towards opening a portal to another part of this world could be turned to that, but maintaining stability would be a huge feat even for Sunset."
Celestia gave her a sad look. "And that, Twilight, is what led to her demise."
"Wh-what happened?" Fluttershy said in a tiny voice.
"When I discovered what she was doing, I had to assume the worst," said Celestia. "You see, the inhabitants of this other world cannot wield magic."
Starlight blinked. "No magic??"
"I could not let her loose in a world that would be defenseless against her. I rushed to confront her, but rather than let me stop her, she attempted to go through her portal before it was stable." Her voice quavered. "Before I ever got to her lab, I h-heard the terrible scream." Her eyes glistened. "When I got there ... she was gone ... and all the blood ..."
Celestia took a shuddering breath and turned away from the others. Luna stepped up to her and draped a foreleg around her barrel.
Starlight swallowed, her pupils shrunk. "The portal cr-crushed her?"
Fluttershy paled.
"The floor was also covered in shards that were part of her virus-altering device," said Celestia in a quaking voice. "She had every intention of taking it through with her to the other world."
Twilight was quiet for a long moment. "Celestia, I know this is hard for you, but ... can you please tell me what's happening with the anomaly now?"
Celestia smiled her appreciation to her sister before turning around. "When a portal closes, the energies take a long time to completely dissipate. The connection does not sever so much as drift away. The second time a portal opened on its own, it took five years for the energies to fade. They're visible only in the magical spectrum. Sunset's portal, because of the large amount of energy she imparted into it, would take forty years to completely dissipate."
"So you sealed the building," said Starlight. "And made everypony forget about it until the energy dissipated."
"Except it's not dissipating," said Celestia. "Now it's surging again, and I don't know why."
"Beggin' yer pardon, Princess," said Applejack with a frown. "But why in tarnation didn't ya go ta Twilight fer help in the first place? Ya think ya woulda learned yer lesson by now!"
"Applejack!" Rarity cried, aghast. "Your manners!"
"I'm the Element of Honesty, Rarity. I ain't the Element of Sparin' Yer Feelings When Yer Doin' Somethin' Dumb."
"But still, a little sympathy is in order. The Princess had to watch her beloved student die."
"I unnerstand that," said Applejack in a lower voice. "I'm the last one to ever wish that on somepony. But it's been twenty dang years! She couldn't confide in Twilight about this all that time?"
"I'll be perfectly honest, Celestia," said Twilight. "I'm upset that you didn't trust me. That ... that hurts. More than I think the revelation of having my memories altered would have."
Celestia stepped up to Twilight. "Everypony is right to upset with me, but you most of all. I won't beg forgiveness from you, Twilight."
"You don't have to," Twilight said softly. "You already have it."
"Same here, Princess," said Applejack. "An' I'm pretty sure that goes fer everypony here. It don't make no sense to carry a grudge."
A chorus of agreement rose from the other ponies. A teary-eye Celestia smiled warmly at them. "You all make me very proud and humble at the same time. Thank you."
Twilight frowned. "But one thing I can't forget, Celestia, is how this made me feel like I had to treat you as the enemy. And in my mind, that could only mean that you thought I was your enemy."
"Twilight, I never once thought--" Celestia began.
"Let me finish."
Celestia fell silent, her eyes glistening.
"It doesn't matter whether it was true or not," said Twilight. "I know it's not true. I can get over that. Eventually. But what's harder to get over is how your actions said I don't need or want your help, Twilight!"
Celestia lowered her head.
"You always came to me for help," Twilight continued. "You did it with Nightmare Moon, you did it with Discord, and you did it with Sombra! And when Tirek got out of control, you trusted me with all your magic! All I could think is that you didn't come to me with this because of something I did wrong!"
"It was never that," said Celestia in a choked voice.
"If you had come to me about this, if you had told me the truth from the start, yes, I would've been very upset with you for blocking my family's memories, but it would've been mitigated by the fact that you trusted me to see past that and help you with this situation. You violated that trust, Celestia, and it will take me some time to get over that, and ... I can't speak for how the rest of my family will react. I hope in time they'll come to understand, but it won't change the fact that Aunt Sunset is gone."
Celestia slowly lifted her head and blinked away tears. "Nopony regrets that fact more than I do."
Twilight stood. "I need to get back to my family. Spike, Starlight, you're both welcome to come along." She turned to her friends. "I'd invite all of you, but I think I want to restrict this to just those close to the family."
"We understand, Twilight," said Fluttershy with a soft smile.
"We'll be hangin' out in Canterlot fer a spell if ya need us," said Applejack.
Starlight blinked. "Wait. Me? Close to the family?"
Twilight smiled. "What can I say? My parents have taken quite a liking to you."
Starlight's eyes widened. "They have??"
"Don't be so surprised, Starlight," said Luna. "You can be a very likable pony when you want to be."
Starlight blushed. "Um, thank you ... I think."
The others chuckled briefly, the gravity of situation dampening their mirth. Twilight turned away from the others. "Come on, let's go. My family will be anxious to hear some of what happened here."
"Before you go, Twilight," said Celestia. Her horn glowed, and she levitated a book into view, the spell anchor with Sunset's cutie mark on it. "I removed all obscuring magic from this book. You will want to look at it."
Twilight took it in her magic. "What is it?"
"The last journal Sunset ever kept of her research into portal mechanics. I don't know how much use it will be to you given its damaged state."
Twilight opened the cover, only to find many of the pages partially burned. "What happened to it?"
"Sunset burned all her research notes just before heading through the portal," explained Celestia. "I was able to salvage just one, and even then, I had to replace the cover. Perhaps I was foolish to want a memento."
Twilight closed the book. "Any bit of information can be of help. Thank you. I'll treat this book with the utmost care."
Starlight and Spike fell into step on either side of her as Twilight entered the hall. "So, um, what now?" said Starlight. "I mean, after you've dealt with your family."
"We need to do two things as soon as possible," said Twilight. "First, gather any data that was ever recorded about those past portals and see if we can use it to fill in the gaps in Aunt Sunset's journal. Second, we need an up-close look at that anomaly and see if we can figure out why the energy is increasing."
"Do you think the natives of that other world could be trying to open it themselves?" said Starlight.
"I don't see how," said Spike. "Not if they don't have magic."
"But that's ridiculous! How can they not have magic? How would their world function without it? How would they even live without it?"
Twilight considered. "We should also study any data about the natives themselves. If there is energy radiating from that portal, it has to be coming from somewhere, and the other end of the portal is a possibility."
Starlight sighed as she looked at the partially burnt book. "I wish more of her journals had survived."
"Yes, I know, we really have our work cut out for us," said Twilight. "But there's something else. As much as I feel Celestia was telling us the truth, something seems off."
"What do you mean?"
"Aunt Sunset's extreme beliefs. Why did nopony notice it before then?"
Starlight shrugged. "She was good at keeping it to herself?"
"But in all her debates with Celestia, it didn't come out even once?" said Twilight. "There's something we're missing, maybe something Celestia missed as well."
"But does it matter?" said Starlight. "Not to put too fine a point on it, but, well, Sunset is gone."
Twilight sighed, her ears drooping. "Maybe I just don't want to believe that a member of my family could act that way. Still, maybe we'll get lucky and find some more personal information on her. But before we do anything, I have to see how my family is holding up."
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Notification squad!
I'll admit, I initially thought Celestia was just going to attempt to mind wipe them after convincing everyone to wait til morning. But, this explanation is far more disconcerting and unsettling. It makes me wonder if the transformation virus has some form of mind altering component to it after Turner was saying everypony instead of everyone. I am both excited and nervous of what will be revealed in the new chapters.
Is this a zombie or biological weapon testing fic
So Sunset went all conversion bureau. So what caused Sunset to do all nutso I wonder? Hopefully Twilight can get to the humans before they all become ponies and are pissed about it. Hopefully they can all keep their own minds and not be brain washed freaks like in other conversion stories.
7977704
Thanks! I did a ton of research for this story to try to make things as realistic as possible. The main issue I ran into was that about all the publicly available information I have about responding to infectious diseases referred to existing, known diseases rather than a brand new one. This was very helpful for the influenza side of things, not as much for the ponifying side.
7977743
One thing I do want to make clear is that this will not be a case of "conversion bureau by proxy". There's more going on here about Sunset's motivations than meets the eye.
Also, while I don't want to spoil the rest of the story, suffice it to say that the extreme brainwashing of the Conversion Bureau stories is what turns me off to them.
7977754 Colour me wrong if I didn't say I have a standard for a certain level of accuracy in my stories as well, and I commend you for the believability of how people are reacting to this situation.
Plus, I like how you've retconned Equestria Girls, and the characterizations of the main characters is very accurate to how I see them act in the show.
Git gud m8!
Before even reading this, let me express my disappointment that you have a chapter named "Revelations" -- the single most unimaginative, trite and over-used chapter name across the whole landscape of FiMFiction. For shame.
Yes! We finally got an explanation for why this is happening to the humans!
And a very plausible one at that. Why hasn't anyone thought of writing transformation stories this way?!
Also, my theory is that Sunset isn't actually dead. Maybe she did get hurt during the portal collapse, maybe it cut off a leg or something idk Celestia didn't go into specifics, but maybe she made it through to the human world with her machine and now she's testing it on a small population.
The idea that Sunset is this evil is actually pretty terrifying. Like, I get some ponies are bad but this takes it to a whole other level.
My other theory is that maybe Sunset did die, (but then why would there be magic ruins in the cave?) but the machine survived and managed to secretly leak the virus this whole time which is in Turner's place?
Either way this story is turning out to be excellent, and with this puzzle piece discovered makes it all the more concrete that something magical is indeed happening.
I am gonna have a hard time waiting for the next chapters to come out.
7977762
That's cool. I also do not like the brain washing elements of those stories. Heck I have a conversation bureau story in my head where they face off against the Joker and he no sells the mind control in my head right now.
Argh, torn between being glad this story updates regularly and being frustrated because I have to wait a week to read more after finishing each week's chapters. XD
That said, just out of curiosity, do you type up the chapters each week or do you have a buffer of, say, a dozen chapters that you release from every week? Or is the whole story finished and you just release two chapters each week? XD
Anyway, really enjoying this story. Can't wait to read more and find out what kinds of ponies the characters on Earth turn into and what they think about being colorful little ponies. =)
Nope. Just some (almost) unindended consequences.
The plot lines are beginning to intertwine...
7977762
I, for one, am very curious to see what led Sunset to have such extreme beliefs. Could therenbe a Bigger Bad at work here, I wonder?
And seriously, why didn't Tia trust Twilight? Damn Sunbutt...
So from chapter 13 we know that Sunset atleast got to earth. So I presume she feigned her death.
7977774
Go reread Chapter 13, near the end there is the part about Fred's army unit investigating strange light and finding a young girl at the site and had no family. He visited her at the camp and then all of a sudden she disappeared and know won could remember her . (posibly Celestia's spell because the portal was still open. Maybe it is Celestia's spell keeping the portal open and expanding it, because it is constantly sending magic to the other side to suppress the memories about Sunset their. I guess we will find out.
7977762
I'm holding out hope that Sunset it not as bad as she has been presented so far and that there is some deeper reason for all this.
So.. the truth is ... the transformation spell spread by virus...
7977773
None of the stories I've read on this site have used this title, so I would have no way of knowing how much it's been used.
So the reason the people of Lone Pine are turning into ponies... is because of a virus?! Merciful Emperor...
So Sunset plan to change everyone into ponies... Which is more or less one or two steps short from planet-wide genocide. And this is more or less explain why Celestia complete erase Susnset from history. If other races find that ponies could change all of them into more ponies (and that they already tried)... Well, it could lead to Very Bad Things for Equestria. Aside of biological weapon race other races could come to conclusion that it easier and safer just... eliminate Equestria altogether. Because who know when this ponies and Celestia decide again to turn everyone into ponies or just chose to wipe out all other races.
In general I think that Celestia chose a best decision that she could think in available short time frame. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”. In the face of possible war that could wipe Equestria clean memory of several hundreds or even thousand ponies and gryphons are really insignificant.
Is it bad that I have read the newly posted chapters in backwards order?
Celestia made the worst decision in time of crisis. At this point, slaughtering any griffons and ponies who knew about it, and burning down any documents would've better course of action than what's she done then. Yes, if Shimmer's weapon come out, some races would've started an arm's race, and it would've ended in a world war. But in the end, it would've resulted in peace talks, and treaty to never use biological weapons again. Instead, she unleashed second weapon. Shimmer's weapon is affecting body. Celestia's weapon is affecting minds, memories, knowledge itself. You can't trust your memories, you can't trust what's written down, you can't trust yourself. If both, or even only second weapon ever come out, it would end in a war of eradication. Every single country, even those who would've been Equestria's allies, or who would've been neutral, would strike Equestria in panic, to burn it down to the ground. No peace talks here.
Now, if Shimmer did something so eldritch, that very knowledge of her existence could drive anybody insane, or twist and corrupt them, then other countries would reluctantly understand. But what actually took place, from their perspective ponies did unthinkable to just cover their own asses after their own mistake. From their perspective, it's purely egoistic reason, and it means that ponies are not to be trusted.
7977762 well honestlly thats what i thought reading this chapter at first ....but....if the ponies do cross the portal at the end of this fic will there be a sequel to this fic maybe about the aftermath of this? i cant tell you how to do your fics or anything but there has to be consequences to this once the ponies if they do cross over theyre going to be blamed for what happened and this was pretty much a biological attack on U.S. sole wether this was done by sunset or unintentionally this could be seen as an act of aggression and uncle sam will pretty much lead humanity into its first intergalactic. war with equis .....but thats just how i think would happen im not sure if youd do more after this or if you have there be a first contact event in this at all but im glad the whole mystery. is kinda solved but im guessing theres more to this huh?
Well,there goes my lost colony theory.Although there has to be something else going on here.I remember a few chapters back talking about artifacts pointing towards human/pony interaction some time ago.They keep "disappearing" apparently.
7977754 Are you sure you haven't accidentally ended up on any government watch lists in your queries? Also, it'll be interesting to see how the Sunset Shimmer that Mr. Turner reported ties in. I already have some theories, but I'm definitely curious whether or not they pan out.
Ok, I'll admit it. I was not expecting Nazi ponies.
It's a real shame Sunset went the bio-weapon route with her research. This "overwriting morphic resonance" thing could be the Holy Grail of medical research.
Holy crap, my earlier joke about Sunset being behind the Conversion Bureaus was actually on the mark!
Okay, maybe not. That's just how it goes with my sense of humor, I guess.
Take that, Disgruntled-verse Twilight!
Oy vey, Sunset. So, we know that the virus got to earth. It's affecting people. How? Why now? Is Sunset still behind this, or is some unseen mastermind skillfully pulling the strings?
ONE MORE THING I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT!!
One thing I know about virus': They mutate. What's to stop a genome slipping out of sequence and all of a sudden we get dragons and changelings and Diamond Dogs....actually, that last one would be cool...
By the time the ponies get to Earth, I hope that people are already fully ponies.
I'd like to see a culture shock between 2 cultures of technically the same species.
we'll see I guess. I hope they meet within a few chapters. It's been 16 technically and we are still waiting lol (but it's probably not the point of the story)
And that's how Scootaloo was made.
7978121
Not really, considering that the two plotlines are still separate.
7978081
Maaaybe ...
7978731
Oh, no! You spoiled the plot twist I was planning!
KIDDING
7978268
Hmm, hadn't thought about that.
So if the FBI shows up at my doorstep, I suppose it wouldn't be a good idea to tell them that I was searching for the most efficient way to turn the population into little colorful ponies ...
7977791
I have a buffer of chapters written in rough draft form. This way, if I get momentarily blocked on how to proceed, it's with material several weeks ahead of my posting schedule so I can maintain a steady update rate.
There will be a one week disruption in the update schedule coming up in March, but not due to story issues. I have to do my taxes
I plan to notify everyone when that's about to come up.
7978177
While it's probably way too soon to talk about sequels, there will definitely be fallout and consequences from this that will be covered in this story.
7978763
Kinda figured that might be the case. Seems to be what most people I know that update regularly do.
Re: disruption cause of taxes
=(
Did I miss anything or did they just completely fail to ask about the fate of the pegasus/griffin filly? Seems like something to ask about. Like did they find a way to reverse what Sunset did and if they didn't then what did Celestia do with her if she had to erase the whole memory that such a thing could be even done.
7978854
Plot twist: Rainbow Dash was the griffin and she doesn't even remember! No wonder she was friends with Gilda!
I'm very curious who that poor Griffin was turned into, and if she remembers who they are.
7978918
You know that same thought passed through my mind too lol.
Hmm... so Sunset did have a global plan, hideous enough to justify erasing her existence. Erased by another, equally hideous application of dark magic. Oh Celestia, paving the way to Tartarus with the love for her little ponies. Well, the story does have the 'drama' tag.
The use of terminology like virus, biological warfare, genetic code etc on the Equestrian side threw me off a bit. I think 'softer', less technical terms like 'illness', 'purposeful spread of disease' would fit better to the setting. Or is Twilight talking about genetics in the show somewhere?
"Hasbro made Lauren Faust change her idea radically from what she'd wanted the story to be! We'd have been far better prepared and there'd have been a much better reason Celestia couldn't help out than absolutely none at all and no explanation of where she was the whole time! Just like Luna's completely inexplicable absence during the changeling attack in "Canterlot Wedding"!"
Twi's mom, "Wut?"
Twilight, "I randomly developed Pinkie's 4th-wall breaking powers. I have a suspicion it has something to do with season 7."
Twi's mom, "Still wut."
"But the Caribou murder all stallions and rape all the mares! CONSTANTLY!! I mean, there's like a gazillion fanfics about it! Why the heck would we EVER do anything but magically nuke their land to kingdom come!?"
Celestia blinks, "You just randomly got Pinkie Pie's 4th wall breaking powers, didn't you?"
Twilight
7978768 Both worlds asplode when the portal destabilizes and unleashes the Shoop-Da-Whoop radiation fueling it all in one burst!
7978740 The chick/filly was... Derpy!
The spell made her eyes derped.
7977774 There is something much more perplexing: the artifacts and glyphs found in the cave are very old. Even an amateur archaeologist would notice that some carvings are recent. The rock oxidizes from air and moisture over time even when protected from the other elements.
So SOMETHING came through in that place from Equestria in the past. And perhaps THAT is the Big Bad responsible for everything.
7978747 *snerk* I'm sure they'll find it quite believable. If they don't believe it right away, just show them the fic. I'm sure they'll understand and not add you to any other lists.
In all seriousness though, I AM curious about a few things regarding the way the viral spell interacts with a person's individual genetic make-ups or general situations.
- Is there the potential for the spell to 'fudge' a person's transformation in which a 'gender bender' scenario ensues?
- How might the spell interact with an individual that has undergone significant cosmetic reconstructions, IE sex reassignment surgery.
- If a person has lost one or more parts of their body, IE a kidney or limb, how might the spell behave as it changes them? Would they start regrowing missing pieces, or would we eventually see tripod ponies?
- It has been demonstrated that being an alicorn can be hereditary in addition to the result of great achievement; could the virus accidentally an alicorn?
7977762
Interesting. So you're saying that Sunset's motives can't be chalked up to racism, a desire to improve society, or a zealous devotion to a monarch?
This paragraph already shows that Sunset was already losing interest all that:
If Sunset was no longer interested in Celestia's favor when she disobeyed her mentor and transformed a griffin, than there are different questions one needs to ask.
Why is Sunset trying to creating so many ponies? What would she do with a planet of former humans? If she survived and ended up on Earth, why did it take so long for her to begin her experiment again?
I don't want you to spoil anything, but this little details in the text that you end up reading twice make this story so wonderfully interesting.
Huh. I honestly was expecting Shinning Armor and Cadence to talk to Celestia this set of chapters. Oh well, at least we have a clearer understanding on what happened with Sunset's experiment and line of thinking. However, I personally don't think that Sunset is dead. I could be wrong about it, but I don't think she's dead. I guess we'll have to wait and see on that mystery.
Back on Earth, I'm thinking that Jenny truly has no memory of what happened that night. Maybe it was a form of subconscious suppression? With her mind being as young as it was, maybe her mind tried to make Jenny forget the event to prevent any potential traumatic damaging? Or maybe in the same type of instance that Fred Turner experienced with the little girl, maybe Laura and a few other people are the only ones that have any memory of such an event? It's also good to see the Colorado Department of Health beginning to look at this seriously. And the seeds of panic might be beginning to be placed within the young populace of Lazy Pines.
Nice couple of chapters, and I look forward to the next set.
~ Super-Brony12
7977774 we already saw her, actually - I believe. The little girl Turner saw in Afghanistan, the one from the refugee camp that then disappeared. Add that to the conspiracy acting to wipe out signs of ponies in archeological sites, specially the way the last ones were erased? Magic. They have Sunset, or she's working with them.
Not only that, but her motivations are not natural. Where did they come from? There is a darker force acting, one we have no idea of the identity yet. The plot thickens, after all!
I loved it. It made sense, it was beleivable, as far as story about magical ponies goes anyway, and in character.
'Cept maybe for that one line from Pinkie:
I dunno, there is a something about the choice of world that clearly don't feel Pinkie-ish to me.
It did not break my suspension of disbelief, nor my enjoyment. It just made me pause...
DUN DUN DUN!
At least one other cultist, who may or may not have endoctrined Sunset and who is(are) still at large...